Read this whilst doing some research. Has me salivating...
After dining at the state dinner in Beijing, Clinton and Chinese President Jiang Zemin
cajoled each other to take turns conducting the People's Liberation Army band. Jiang
"was modestly declining an invitation to conduct [by the band leader], but Clinton
egged him on, saying: 'You can do it, Mr. President! Go for it!' " After Jiang
conducted a few bars of "Song for the Motherland", he asked Clinton to try his hand.
The latter led the band in a John Philip Sousa march.
"More... followed the after-dinner entertainment, which involved a large ensemble
playing Western and Chinese music on traditional Chinese instruments. Particularly
striking was the [group's] rendition of Joni Mitchell's 'Chelsea Morning,' featuring a
soloist on a reed instrument called a suona." (The suona sounds like a piercing,
amplified kazoo. It must've sounded a bit jarring to hear it render the lilting melody
of that song.)
Bob
NP: Dire Straits, "Sultans of Swing", Italy 1981
